Filipino Food Recipes and More

Sunday, April 11, 2010

It's been a long time since I added a recipe to my blog.Pork Giniling is one of my favorite filipino dishes. I love eating it with rice and tomato ketchup. Ketchup? You say. Yes, ketchup. Try it and maybe you'll like it too.We have moved back to Manila and all my previous entries were written in the States. This means that I can be authentic with my ingredients but I will still try to cater my dishes to those that I know don't have access to Filipino ingredients.I have been craving rice for meals since we moved back to Manila. I thought that I have already been "Americanized" in that I can live without rice in my diet. Anyway, today, I decided to make Pork Giniling (or Sauted Ground Pork Pinoy Style). I think it is similar to Pork Picadillo.

I know that some add diced potatoes to this dish but I don't just because I think you will already get enough starch from the rice which this dish is served with.

Pardon my ingredients list but some of them are approximations because I find myself adjusting my ingredients to taste.

Here are the ingredients that I used:Vegetable Oil - You can use whatever oil you have. I only used a little bit just to grease the pot because the pork will give out a lot of grease as the dish is being cooked.Onion - 1 medium and diced (With the one I made, I just sliced the onion)Garlic - approximately 1 tablespoonGround Pork - 1/2 kiloTomato Sauce - approximately 2 tablespoonsCarrot - 1 piece dicedRaisins - approximately 1 tablespoonSalt and Pepper to taste

To start, I greased the pan with some oil and then waited for it to get hot over medium heat. Once hot, I sauted the garlic and onion until they started smelling good. And then, I added the pork. I tried to flatten the ground pork in the pan to make sure it doesn't bunch up as one big piece as it cooks. I then added the diced carrots. Midway through the cooking process of the meat, I added the tomato sauce. After the meat is cooked, I then seasoned with some salt and pepper. I serve this dish with rice.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Again, I hated to waste our idaho potatoes going bad so I thought about making this baked potato skins. I found this recipe from recipezaar and by some accident I didn't fully follow the recipe but still it turned out really good. Here goes the recipe.

These baked potato skins are great with grilled burgers. I love them because they are baked and not deep-fried.

Ingredients:

4 medium sized baking potatoes - baked (see baked potatoes recipe), cut in half and with the inside of potato scooped out (You can leave as little or as much potato you like - quarter thick. In our home, we leave a lot of potato)

3 tablespoon vegetable oil1 tablespoon parmesan cheese - grated

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cups Cheddar cheese - shredded

2 tablespoons Bacon bits (or more if you like)

1/4 cup chives - sliced (or yellow onoins)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) Combine vegetable oil, parmesan cheese, salt, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Brush all over the potato skins (top and bottom).

3) Lay potatoes upside down (skin on top) for 8 minutes.

4) Top with the cheddar cheese, bacon bits and chives/onions and bake for another 8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

For my 1st LaPiS entry I made a Filipino Egg Pie. Thanks to Manang for the recipe. This was the first recipe that came to mind given the Easter Egg Hunt theme. It's such an eggy recipe but you can barely taste that eggs are in it (that's what I think).

First time I did this recipe, the taste of honey became overpowering and the top didn't really brown but on this second attempt, it was perfect (soft, moist, not too sweet, just right) even if I forgot to add the cornstarch. Next few times I make it, I will try to experiment with the use of condensed / evaporated milk instead of fresh milk. There is a different kind of sweetness to the egg pies sold in the bakeries in Manila. The use of canned milk might make that difference.

As a kid, egg pie really wasn't one of my favorites although my mom often buys some for our merienda. I rarely ate it when I was still in Manila. But as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Having no access to this kind of pie (and many other Filipino dishes), I missed it and it became one of my favorite pies / comfort food.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Making lasagna is tedious that is why I really would rather use the frozen and ready to cook kind. However, I think this recipe is simple enough. Plus, it's much healthier than the beef kind. Each lasagna roll is so filling. A piece would probably even be enough per person. (Sorry for the photo. Forgot to take one right after it was cooked so all the pieces where the filling sort of pop out in the side have already been eaten and this was the only piece left.)

Melt the buter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Whisk in the flour and slowly add the milk. Let simmer and let the sauce thicken. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Lasagna Filling:

Combine egg, ricotta cheese, spinach and parmesan cheese in a bowl.

Noodles:

Cook noodles based on instructions in box but add a tablespoon of oil in the water used to cook the pasta. Drain and lay individually in a tray with paper towel to prevent from sticking together.

Assembly:

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray and spoon bechamel sauce to cover the bottom of the dish. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the filling in each end of the lasagna noodle. Roll the noodle up to the other end. Lay in the bowl. Do the same thing with the other noodles and have them lay on the bowl alongside each other but not touching each other. Cover with marinara sauce when done. And then top with mozarella cheese and a little bit of parmesan. Tighly cover the baking dish with a foil. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. And then remove the foil cover and let cook for another 15 minutes or until the cheese melts. Remove from the oven and let stand for another 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Lately, I've been usually eating pan-fried salmon and some greens. It's very easy to make, healthy, and I really like the clean flavor. To cook the salmon, I just season both sides of the fish with salt and lots of pepper. The salmon I'm using is fillet style and skinless already. And then I pan-fry it in a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. I give both sides around 3 minutes or until they've browned. And then, while hot, I put it on top of a bed of spring mix greens. They've been pre-cut and washed. I like the peppery taste that those greens have and then I squeeze in some lemon to the fish and greens. On the bottom of the plate, before putting the greens in, I also squeeze in some lemon so there's a bit of lemon flavor all over. It's filling and at the same time healthy so I really love this dish.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Beef stroganoff is another one of my favorite dishes. This is such a heart warming dish.I don't like ground beef on my stroganoff though so this calls for beef strips. And then my husband doesn't like mushrooms, so this recipe doesn't have mushrooms in it. But since I like mushrooms, I sauted some mushrooms on butter for me and added them to my plate. I think this is a picture of my plate where I have a little bit of mushrooms added on. But here goes the recipe of beef stroganof without mushrooms.

Directions:1) Mix the salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a small bowl and generously season the meat with it.2) Dredge the meat with a little flour.3) In a large skillet, melt butter on olive oil then brown both sides of the meat.4) Remove meat from pan then add onion slices on the same pan. Saute until tender and then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour.5) Add the meat back into the pan.6) Add celery soup and beef broth.7) Cook covered on low heat for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.8) Mix in sour cream and then the egg noodles. Serve and enjoy!

Monday, March 30, 2009

It's the classic American comfort food. When I first came to the US, I wasn't a fan of American food but after being here for a while I have started loving the new taste and food textures. Anyhow, here is one recipe that I learned and kept on making because it's very simple, delicious, and my husband loves it.